Nemo still owns the ocean

Now, usually movie knockoffs aren't too horrible. "Save The Last Dance" was a commendable attempt following "Center Stage," "Deep Impact" tried its best to entertain "Armageddon" fans and so on and so forth. Unfortunately, "Shark Tale" in no way follows the general humor "Finding Nemo" used to warm audience's hearts. It, in fact, does little for anyone who isn't over the age of 13 or hasn't seen "The Godfather." With many references to popular culture (such as a character named Katie Current, played by news anchor Katie Couric), much of the humor will be enjoyed for a few moments by adults but missed entirely by younger audiences. Overall, the flick misses a huge portion of its intended demographic.\nThe story is like so many others where the end can be foreseen from the beginning. Oscar (Will Smith) is a lowly worker fish that has dreams of becoming a "somebody" in his undersea version of New York City. Crushed upon by leading lady Angie (Renee Zellweger), Oscar quickly finds himself in trouble with the oceanic mob, led by Don Lino (Robert DeNiro) and his sons, Lenny (Jack Black) and Frankie (Michael Imperioli). "Shark Tale" is chock-full of life lessons about acceptance, diversity and "being you," with an end product that brings enemies and friends working together toward a common goal. Can you say "Disney wannabe?"\nWhere do I even begin with this one? If this film was an original, it would be one thing, but if a studio is going to try and replicate a movie like "Finding Nemo," it better be awesome. "Shark Tale," however, was anything but. They both had child and adult humor, making it thoroughly enjoyable for all audiences. On the other hand, "Shark Tale" tries too hard to include "adult only" references and winds up appealing only to kids because the movie is in the form of a cartoon with bright colors and funny faces. \nIts redeeming qualities were few and far between. With references to "The Godfather," companies like Coca-Cola and Gap and other items of popular culture, the audience members (mainly middle schoolers and up) released nothing more than a snicker or two every 10 to 15 minutes. \nOne of the major problems may have been with the all-star cast. Hardly any of the characters were believable because the voices were just too familiar to the average person. I mean, who hasn't seen one of these superstars' movies? Throughout the entire film all I could see were fish mouthing conversations between actors Will Smith, Angelina Jolie and Renee Zellweger. In fact, Jack Black does the best job at using a character voice least recognizable to his own. \nSadly, I had to find out the hard way about "Shark Tale." If you're looking for the next computer animated hit like I am, just keep swimming.